Variety reports that Steven Knight (Eastern Promises, Dirty Pretty Things) has been hired to write the script for Columbia Pictures. The trade says that Tom Hanks isn't signed yet to reprise his role as symbologist Robert Langdon, but the studio expects him to. Based on the novel by Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol finds Langdon investigating a Freemason conspiracy in Washington, D.C.

No word yet if director Ron Howard will be back as well, but his producing partner Brian Grazer is still attached to produce the film.